Angelo Sotira helped pioneer deviantART after the internet’s “boom days” with Scott Jarkoff and Matt Stephens. Scott ensured that deviantART functioned code-wise and community-wise, Matt focused on making sure that the world knew about what promise deviantART offered to aspiring artists, and Angelo covered the legal and some techinical bases, including directing the business concerns of deviantART as a company.

As with any venture, there were the "usual" hiccups, though it’s debatable whether anything about deviantART or how it came about can be considered "usual". The founders and the site weathered the storms that hit, and because of the initial and continued dedication of Scott and Angelo, along with the rest of the core developers and volunteer staff, deviantART continues to function, evolving continually to meet the demands of artists, exponential increases in deviations (and consequently necessary space) and operating costs, along with dozens and dozens of other daily demands.

Pt. 1 | Angelo's Past

yokom (Tom Shakely): Considering that most 15 year olds rarely ever know what they want to do in their life, let alone how to do it, founding a site like dMusic seems extraordinary. Where did you get your sense of purpose and direction from?

spyed (Angelo Sotira): Flattering of you. I focus on what I feel most passionately about. When I was younger I was fascinated with MP3’s because they were really cool. I wanted to share them with the world! Back then MP3 wasn’t the buzz word it is today.

Shakely: What kept you so devoted to a cause that many would probably have quickly become bored with?

Sotira: It was a love affair I suppose. Probably unhealthy; I should have let go and moved on to some of the other ideas I had at the time. They were good ideas.

Shakely: How did you translate the ideas behind projects like dMusic and deviantART into real world, working business models?

Sotira: In both businesses I had the benefit of being the same age as the demographic. I am the audience. So I focused our business models on things I’d be willing to pay for. So that’s a part of it. I also surround myself with people who are smarter than I am. And predictably, they come up with smart ideas. And I listen! That’s the key you know; listening.

Pt. 2 | deviantART's Birth

Shakely: What was the main obstacle to success, and what problem continues to dog you and the administration on the site?

Sotira: Same as with any business; capital. Early on it was really tough.

Shakely: Where did the capital come from to start deviantART as a business and corporation?

Sotira: Privately funded, it just needed a little push and a smart focus and off it went.

Shakely: Why was it named "deviant"ART? Do you try to redress the negative reaction some have when they hear "deviant" art?

Sotira: We deviate from the norm. “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible” – Frank Zappa. We love our name!

Shakely: What were your honest expectations for deviantART? Do they think that it has come along to plan or as you hoped it would? What directions has the site gone in that you are you surprised about?

Sotira: I think we were ready to take this all the way. It’s arrogant to say we thought it would get this far, that was just our dream, but we were ready for it. Our team has a lot of history running online communities and projects successfully; I’m really proud of the team we’ve assembled.

Shakely: Is there anything you could cover in more depth than you did in your short history of deviantART journal back in April 2003?

Sotira: Short? That thing was a book!

Pt. 3 | deviantART Today

Shakely: Rumor has it that at least parts of the deviantART administration are finally getting a paycheck. Assuming that this is true, when did the site begin to show a profit?

Sotira: The site has always been “profitable” (in the way “profitable” is defined in the question) otherwise it wouldn’t exist! We never took outside investment. It takes a lot of full time people to run deviantART and having a payroll is very similar (from an operating perspective) to purchasing the hardware that is needed for the site. Hardware with no one to maintain it isn’t very valuable.

Shakely: How have the prints and subscription programs aided the growth of the deviantART community?

Sotira: Um, those are important! Very!

Shakely: Do you see any particular aspects of the community that you'd wish disappeared?

Sotira: Nah. Well perhaps the occasional abusive user who drives our policy violations team crazy. But otherwise we have the most awesome community that exists and we’re proud to serve it!

Shakely: How will the reorientation of members of the core staff into the Los Angeles area change how things are run day-to-day?

Sotira: It’s made a lot of things move a lot faster.

Shakely: Do you notice what time of day the site is most active, and what months in particular see the most community participation?

Sotira: We peak at 2pm usually; and we see the most participation next month, and then the month after that.

Pt. 4 | deviantART's Future

Shakely: Is there anything you could share with us about what's next for/from the site?

Sotira: The 2005 deviantART summit will be held in Santa Monica, California in Late June 2005. It’s going to be a huge event, don’t miss it!Also the only screen from which you can access deviantART today is one that is attached to a personal computer, Mac, etc. In 2005 you’ll be able to get deviantART on as many types of screens as we can find. Cell phones, PDA’s … your TV.

Shakely: Many deviants have raised questions about how sustainable deviantART is. It's true that nothing lasts forever, but is there any credence to the idea that deviantART is being flooded with submissions many would classify as junk rather than art?

Sotira: The cream rises to the top; we have the widest & most talented array of artists in the world on deviantART. And we also have amateurs, who learn and improve their craft daily. I believe the quality is always rising. But at the same time there are more submissions from new amateur artists. The thing is we give both ends of the spectrum equal treatment. All art hits the front page and every visitor is exposed to newly submitted art first.This gives a bad first impression, but we’ll never change it. But do take a closer look; browse the daily top favorites and see the most popular images submitted in the past 24 hours. Or browse the most popular submitted over a week; it’s a whole new dimension to deviantART and if you haven’t experienced it I highly recommend.

Shakely: Where do you see yourself in five years? In ten years? How does deviantART the site and deviantART the business factor into your life’s plan?

Sotira: I’ve had a deep passion for creating communities since I was 12 years old. I don’t think that’s going to change. And deviantART is by far the largest online society I know of; I’m in heaven!

Shakely: Are there any other projects you’d like to work on, or are working on currently besides deviantART?

Sotira: It’s a lot like the early years of being married.

Shakely: Finally, how do you plan to use deviantART to further bridge the gap between “real world” art and online art?

Sotira: Our existing EVENTS system does not cut the mustard it was made to cut. Earlier tonight actually, Simon and I finished the plan for the new EVENTS system which will make quite an impact. Deviants will be taking over the world in droves!

I recently had the opportunity to interview the always elusive Angelo Sotira, aka $spyed for my school newspaper, and it seemed only right that the community he founded have access to this as well.

Angelo talks about his past and reflects upon what enabled success for deviantART and how that success will be transformed into continued prosperity for the artistic community, both online and in the real world.

The brief history of deviantART I authored purely for its informative nature, and can be skipped if you'd prefer to get right to the interview.

This is a pretty good interview, and the fav I am about to give you will only be the second you get for this?
Seems harder and harder to get some exposure on DA, unless you post a journal about tits, fan art, whatever...

It is unfortunate that there is *so much* of the *actual history* left out of this. It almost makes it appear as if $spyed did this all by himself when, in fact, myself and °matteo were the ones that "made it happen."

You know jark, I dont know the full story but im sure you do, so if you would explane it to me and many of my freinds it would be very helpful. I'm very greatful to you and °matteo for what you have done. So can I, and the rest of the world, get the real truth?

Why the hell hasn't this received more attention?! *bookmarks for later pimpage*

An excellent interview -- brief, but I'm glad to see that you don't have to be a big shot to get the attention of one. It's just another reminder that the staff members are more in touch with the community than some people would like to believe.

wow, that took alot of guts. Im proud of you, i only wish i went to your school to see this printed, i would be like "I KNOW (STAR)YOKOM!" lol, but thats awesome. I would have to say that $spyed is one of the nicest admins on the site, he is dedicated and im very happy to see that he's getting this kind of publicity. plus, arent kids minds/teenagers minds like spounges? (laughs) good luck.

This was quite a good interview, I just wished some of the answers were longer and the whole thing more discussion-like, but that's a common problem with doing interviews online and not in person.

The questions were rather nice, some of them were clichéd, but it's quite hard to ask a good question that isn't already in use by the majority of journalists. I feel like some things here would have left me puzzled if I was not a DA member, such as the question about prints and subscriptions. Perhaps some of the questions could have been removed, since the answers didn't offer any particular insight.